Death toll in Egypt clashes surpasses 600

Egyptians mourn over the bodies of their relatives in the El Iman mosque in the Nasr City suburb of Cairo. Egypt faced a new phase of uncertainty on Thursday after the bloodiest day since its Arab Spring began, with hundreds of people reported killed and thousands injured as police smashed two protest camps of supporters of the ousted president.

Photo: Khalil Hamra / Associated Press

CAIRO — The death toll surpassed 600 on Thursday from Egypt's bloodiest crackdown on supporters of its deposed Islamist president, as violent new protests erupted in the country and world condemnation widened.

In defiance of calls for restraint, Egypt's Interior Ministry warned protesters that police officers were authorized to use lethal force to protect themselves.

The ministry also promised to punish any “terrorist actions and sabotage” after at least two government buildings were burned early Thursday.

“The ministry has given instructions to all forces to use live ammunition in the face of any attacks on establishments or forces within the framework of the regulations of using the legitimate right of self-defense,” the ministry said in a statement.

“All the forces assigned to securing and protecting these establishments were provided with the weapons and the ammunition necessary to deter any attack that may target them.”

At least 638 people were confirmed killed and nearly 4,000 wounded since Wednesday, when riot police backed by armored vehicles, snipers and bulldozers smashed the two sit-ins in Cairo where supporters of deposed President Mohammed Morsi had been camped out for six weeks to demand his reinstatement.

It was the deadliest day by far since the 2011 popular uprising that overthrew autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak and plunged the country into more than two years of instability.

Wednesday's scorched-earth assault was far more ferocious and extensive than the gradual pressure promised by the interim government that replaced him.

It was easily the most violent of the three deadly suppressions that have roiled Egypt since Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, was forcibly removed from power by the armed forces six weeks ago, plunging the country into its worst crisis since the ouster of Mubarak.

Despite the growing tally of dead, Muslim Brotherhood supporters of Morsi exhorted followers to take to the streets Thursday, defying the newly imposed state of emergency and reflecting a backlash against the military-appointed successors to Morsi's administration, who appear determined to crush the Islamists as a political force.

Hundreds of Morsi's supporters marched through Alexandria, Egypt's second-largest city, clashing with police. In Giza, across the Nile from Cairo near the pyramids, Islamists attacked provincial headquarters with Molotov cocktails and set it on fire. Islamists also blocked the main highway encircling Cairo.

In Europe, some officials called for a suspension of aid by the European Union, and at least one member state, Denmark, cut off funds. France's president summoned the Egyptian ambassador to condemn the violence.

A number of prominent international companies, including General Motors of the United States, suspended operations in the country.

In Ankara, Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an ally of Morsi's, called for an early meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss what he labeled a “massacre.”

Mohamad Fathallah, the spokesman for Egypt's Health Ministry, told the official Al Ahram website that, as of late Thursday, the casualties from the Wednesday violence totaled 638 dead and 3,994 injured.

He said the biggest concentration of killings, numbering 202, had been in the larger of the two protest camps, in the Nasr City suburb, with 87 recorded in the smaller Nahda Square camp near Cairo University.

Twenty-nine deaths were reported from the Helwan area on the outskirts of Cairo, and 207 from other areas around the country.

Adly Mansour, the figurehead president appointed by Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, declared a state of emergency Wednesday, returning Egypt to the state of virtual martial law that prevailed for three decades under Mubarak.

On Thursday morning, authorities continued to tamp down fires and clean up debris from razed protest camps, as many of the city's residents got their first look at the extent of death and damage.

In the El Iman mosque, which had been turned into a morgue, the names of the dead were scribbled on white sheets covering the bodies, some of them charred, and a list with 265 names was plastered on the wall.

Ice keeping the bodies chilled was melting as household fans operated in the makeshift morgue.

Slumped over the body of his brother, Ihab el-Sayyed said the 24-year-old was getting ready for his wedding next week.

“Last time I heard his voice was an hour or two before I heard of his death,” he said, choking back tears.

Over the mosque speakers, announcements urged people to leave because their body heat was making the humid conditions worse inside the mosque, where posters of Morsi lay piled up in a corner.